Sleep your way to beauty!!

You had a short night last night..your skin is saggy, you have bags around your eyes. You feel the acne already starting to come in. Sounds familiar? That’s because your skin really needs the 7 to 9 hours of good sleep to repair, restore, and rejuvenate.

Most of your body’s growth hormone secretion is during sleep (especially during the REM cycle or deep sleep). Growth hormone is what is responsible for all of the body’s repair and rebuilding functions. If you get the right sleep, you can literally ‘sleep your way to beauty’!

You go through different stages of non-REM sleep every night before you get to REM sleep. This lasts for some time and the cycle repeats, with the REM sleep time progressively increasing with every cycle. When you have short or disturbing sleep, you don’t get too much time in deep sleep, and your body does not have enough time to rebuild.

When you are sleep deprived, your body also makes more of the stress hormone cortisol which intensifies any inflammatory skin conditions like acne.

How to get the best sleep

Maintain steady sleep times – this programs your body to get ready to sleep, and get up at those times without any stress.

Sleep in a cool dark room – Below 68 degrees is ideal.

Do not eat late at night – Your body temperature goes down slightly when you are sleeping. If your body is busy digesting, it cannot do that.

Avoid drinking coffee, tea, pop or alcohol at night.

Your last meal of the day should ideally be high in protein, low in carbohydrates, and low in sugar.

Night time beauty regimen

Cleanse (Take off all that makeup!) – Let your skin breathe while you sleep..

Treat – Weather you follow an anti-aging regimen, or are addressing specific skin concerns, make sure you do it before bed cause that’s when your skin gets to repair the most. Talk to your skin analyst to find outwhat kind of treatment products are best for you.

Moisturize – Depending on your skin type, use the right moisturizer for you. Leaving it dry will irritate your skin, and a good moisturizer with anti-aging ingredients can restore the youthful elasticity to your skin.

Other conditions might be affecting your sleep

You’ve tried everything, and still can’t get a good night’s sleep? Do you snore a lot or have trouble even falling asleep? There could be other underlying causes.

Sleep apnea is a very common condition among many adults, and can be easily diagnosed by a sleep study. Contact any of the local sleep clinics in Minneapolis. Once treated, you’ll feel a million bucks!!